WWNO 89.9 Holiday Programming
12/19/22 (Monday)
9pm-10pm - Yiddish Radio Project Holiday Special
All that survives from the "golden age" of Yiddish radio in the 1930s to '50s are a thousand fragile discs, rescued from storerooms, attics, and even dumpsters. But what a story they tell! The Yiddish Radio Project is a celebration of these recordings and of the forgotten geniuses and dreamers who created them. We compiled the best clips from our archive for this holiday special. Hosted by Scott Simon.
12/20/22 (Tuesday)
9pm-10pm - Hanukkah Lights 2022
A perennial NPR favorite, Hanukkah Lights features all new Hanukkah stories. Read by hosts Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz. Murray and Susan looked back into the show's 30 year archive and picked their favorite stories: "Hanukkah Gelt" by Sholem Aleichem, "Gifts of the Last Night" by Rebecca Goldstein, "How To Spell The Name Of G-d" by Ellen Orleans, "Of Love and Latkes" by Lia Pripstein, and "Erev Christmas" by Clement Clarke Moore, translated by Marie Jaffe.
12/21/22 (Wednesday)
8pm-9pm - Candles Burning Brightly
A delightful hour for everyone to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights! Lots of music from Jewish communities around the world, plus a hilarious lesson on how to prepare a classic Chanukah dish, and a timeless and touching holiday story that brings light into every home.
9pm-10 - The Lagniappe Sessions: A New Orleans Jazz Orchestra Holiday Special
10pm-11pm - Holiday Stories of Warmth and Light, from Living On Earth - New
Native American myths and tales help us endure or even enjoy the short days and long nights of winter. Living on Earth’s annual celebration of stories helps connect people with the natural world and includes an Iroquois explanation of why the constellation Pleiades twinkles overhead and an Abenaki custom that asks forgiveness for any wrongs of the previous year.
12/22/22 (Thursday)
8pm-9pm – A Christmas Carol with Jonathan Winters
A public radio tradition hosted by NPR's Susan Stamberg. Master comedian Jonathan Winters presents a distinctive reading of Dickens' holiday classic, with a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations. Also featuring Mimi Kennedy.
9pm-10pm – Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1967 Christmas Eve Message of Hope
On Christmas Eve 1967, Martin Luther King, civil rights leader, Baptist preacher and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, agreed to deliver the prestigious Massey lectures on CBC Radio. His title was "Conscience for Change." Although these lectures were recorded more than forty years ago, King’s words have lost none of their relevance as we still try to come to terms with many of the same issues.
10pm-11pm -Itzhak Perlman’s Chanukah Radio Party
Itzhak Perlman invites you to his Chanukah Radio Party. Join the superstar violinist as he tells the story of the Jewish festival of lights, and shares his favorite recordings for the holiday – some serious, some silly. This engaging one-hour special includes numbers from Itzhak Perlman’s radio-addicted childhood in Israel; evocative songs in Yiddish and Ladino; classical music that revolves around the Maccabee heroes of the story; and Chanukah gems by American folk singers. The master storyteller also regales you with jokes and memories, plus tales of three classic Chanukah symbols: the menorah, the latke, and, of course, the dreidel.
11pm -12pm - A Swinging Holiday Jazz Party with Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis hosts an hour of holiday jazz favorites by Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Gregory Porter, René Marie, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
12/23/22 (Friday)
7pm-8pm - A Soulful Christmas
A Soulful Christmas is an uplifting, relevant display of Black music in the classical, gospel, spiritual, and jazz-inspired style. This special celebrates the non-idiomatic Black classical music, while exploring non-idiomatic choral traditions. (from 2021)
8pm-10pm - Fred Kasten’s 37th Annual Jazz New Orleans Christmas Party
Two hours of great jazz versions of Christmas Favorites, featuring Louis Armstrong, Jon Hendricks, Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Elling, Don Vappie, Ellis Marsalis, Billie Holiday, Charles Brown, Johnny Adams, John Scofield, the Wild Magnolias, Jimmy Smith, and Ingrid Lucia.
11pm-12am - Jazz Night in America Holiday Special 2022
Jazz Night in America brings you holiday classics with fresh arrangements and entertaining storytelling recorded live from Rose Theater in New York City. This year's Jazz Night in America holiday special will feature drummer Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O; a ruckus band recorded at Jazz at Lincoln Center that flip seasonal songs on their head while inserting humor and joyful swing. Christian McBride hosts.
12/24/22 (Saturday)
12am-1am - A World Cafe Holiday Special
World Cafe is celebrating 30 years by revisiting special holiday performances from Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Los Lobos, Andrew Bird, The Bird and The Bee, Pink Martini, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and more. Hosted by Raina Douris, this musical gift will provide a full hour of hip holiday cheer.
9am-11am – Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols presents your audience with an opportunity to share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal Classical music. This special will be presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the 500-year-old Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England. Find out what to expect from this year’s performance here...
11am-12pm - Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites
This year a radio tradition continues - stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk--these and other NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season.
12pm-1pm - Yiddish Radio Project Holiday Special
All that survives from the "golden age" of Yiddish radio in the 1930s to '50s are a thousand fragile discs, rescued from storerooms, attics, and even dumpsters. But what a story they tell! The Yiddish Radio Project is a celebration of these recordings and of the forgotten geniuses and dreamers who created them. We compiled the best clips from our archive for this holiday special. Hosted by Scott Simon.
5pm-7pm - American Routes: Sounds of Winter Solstice and the Holidays
It’s the season of cold weather, darkness, solstice, and… holidays. Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza and New Years ahead. A time of celebration and contemplation, family and friends but also some broken hearts and Christmas blues. From cold weather and cold-hearted blues of Snooky Pryor, Big Maceo and Aretha Franklin to the warm side of the season with Louis Jordan and Ella Fitzgerald, Wille Nelson and Elvis. And belated Hanukkah sounds from Bela Fleck and Andy Statman. Plus, we explore Santa’s exploits, fallibility, and possibility with songs from Baltimore’s Fat Daddy, Tampa Red and Tennessee Ernie Ford. Merry Xmas and more from American Routes!
7pm-12am - Swinging Christmas Eve on Saturday Night Jazz with Jack Hopke.
12/25/22 (Sunday)
12am-1am - Welcome Christmas
There’s no better way to welcome Christmas than Welcome Christmas!, the VocalEssence holiday concert conducted by Philip Brunelle. It’s an hour of joyful, classic holiday music from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premiere choral groups, singing traditional carols and new discoveries.
10am-11am - The Big Tiny Desk Holiday Special
Celebrate the season with amazing holiday performances from The Tiny Desk Concert series including Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Steve Martin, Hanson, The Polyphonic Spree and more! Hosted by NPR Music frenemies Bob Boilen and Stephen Thompson.
11am-12pm - The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays
The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays is an hour-long special devoted to holiday and wintertime movie music. In addition to beloved standards (“White Christmas” from “Holiday Inn” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from “Meet Me in St. Louis”), Michael shares an eclectic mix of wintry film scores, ranging from “It Happened in Sun Valley” (from “Sun Valley Serenade”) to Alexandre Desplat’s folk-inspired score for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” to Bernard Herrmann’s bracing sleigh ride accompaniment composed for the Orson Welles drama “The Magnificent Ambersons.” Bundle up and enjoy The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays!
12pm-1pm - The Ballad of the Brown King
Dr. Louise Toppin, a preeminent performer and scholar specializing in the concert repertoire of African American composers, presents the world premiere recording of Margaret Bonds’s The Ballad of the Brown King (Avie Records, 2018). With a libretto by Langston Hughes, this Christmas cantata focuses on Balthazar, the dark-skinned king who journeyed to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ. This gorgeous work is beautifully interpreted by New York City-based The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra, soloists soprano Laquita Mitchell, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford and tenor Noah Stewart, with Malcolm J. Merriweather at the podium.
1pm-2pm - Tinsel Tales 4: Stories of the Season Told Through Music
For many of us, Christmas is about family and traditions. For others it's a stressful or even a sad time. No matter how good or bad your holiday is, it’s quite likely to include music. This year, Tinsel Tales includes stories of the season told thru music with interviews from the NPR Archives. Kenny Rogers, Katie Melua, Sting, Amy Grant and Jon Batiste talk about the power of music at Christmas. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
2pm-3pm - Christmas with the Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs
One of the great holiday traditions in America, the choirs of Morehouse and Spelman Colleges -- two of the most prestigious historically black institutions in the nation -- get together to present a spine-tingling concert program. This year's program features the best works of the last several years. It's a joyous celebration of the schools' tradition of singing excellence, with their trademark mixture of spirituals and carols. Korva Coleman hosts.
3pm-4pm - An Afro Blue Christmas
This is a special holiday concert with Howard University's premiere vocal ensemble Afro Blue, and special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut. The a-cappela group performs a variety of holiday songs including African-American spirituals, jazz and pop tunes, and classical repertoire. The joyous celebration includes one of a kind arrangements on traditional holiday songs plus new compositions... music perfect for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas. Hosted by Michele Norris.
5pm-6pm - Joy to the World: A Holiday in Pink
The internationally acclaimed “little orchestra" Pink Martini bedecks the airwaves with festive holiday songs from across the globe. From timeless classics to rarely heard gems, hear a multi-denominational, multi-cultural jubilee, overflowing with enough holiday spirit to warm your entire family. Hosted by All Things Considered's Ari Shapiro, and co-produced by OPB and Murray Street Productions.
6pm-8pm - American Routes: Sounds of Winter Solstice and the Holidays
It’s the season of cold weather, darkness, solstice, and… holidays. Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza and New Years ahead. A time of celebration and contemplation, family and friends but also some broken hearts and Christmas blues. From cold weather and cold-hearted blues of Snooky Pryor, Big Maceo and Aretha Franklin to the warm side of the season with Louis Jordan and Ella Fitzgerald, Wille Nelson and Elvis. And belated Hanukkah sounds from Bela Fleck and Andy Statman. Plus, we explore Santa’s exploits, fallibility, and possibility with songs from Baltimore’s Fat Daddy, Tampa Red and Tennessee Ernie Ford. Merry Xmas and more from American Routes!
9pm-10pm - Chanukah in Story and Song
Chanukkah In Story and Song Sung by the The Western Wind Narrated by Leonard Nimoy The acclaimed vocal sextet and the renowned actor present 25 eclectic selections, from the Ladino songs of the Spanish Jews and Yiddish melodies of Eastern Europe to modern Israeli tunes and their original version of “I Have a Little Dreydle.” The singers sing a cappella and are also joined by instruments including violin, accordion, bass and guitar. The narration written by Rabbi Gerald Skolnik sheds light on the holiday customs and rituals.
12/26/22 (Monday)
9pm-10pm -A Season’s Griot Kwanzaa Special
Hosted by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, A Season's Griot is an annual one-hour special that captures the tales and traditions of African American and African peoples. The show’s poet laureate, Beverly Fields Burnette, and other members of the Season’s Griot family return with familiar and favorite elements of Griot.
12/31/22 (Saturday)
5pm-7pm - American Routes: New Orleans New Years Live
It’s time to celebrate the New Year with live music from the French Quarter including the Rebirth Brass Band, jazz with Leroy Jones and Ellis Marsalis, Little Freddie King’s country blues, funk from Jon Cleary and songs from Charmaine Neville. Start the New Year right with American Routes.
7pm-12am Swinging in the New Year with Jack Hopke
1/1/23 (Sunday)
12am-2am - Toast of the Nation 2022/2023
An NPR tradition every New Year's Eve since the 1970s, Toast of the Nation is a festive jazz party, all night long.
10am-12pm - New Year’s Day From Vienna 2023
The Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Daniel Berenboim present its ever popular annual New Year's Day concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. You'll hear your favorite waltzes, polkas and more -- a festive way to start off the New Year. It's presented by NPR Music and hosted by WBUR's Lisa Mullins.
Classical 104.9 and the WWNO Classical Network Holiday Programming
12/20/22 (Tuesday)
8pm-9pm - A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago a capella
Join Jonathan Miller, artistic director of Chicago a cappella and a longtime champion of Jewish choral music, for an inspiring and informative show featuring choral music set to Chanukah texts.
12/21/22 (Wednesday)
5pm-6pm - A Paul Winter Solstice (CD)
Celebrate the return of the sun with an encore performance recorded in the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. Musicians include gospel singer Theresa Thomason, multi-instrumentalist and singer Arto Tunçboyacıyan and double reed wizard Paul McCandless. Hear the American Performance Premiere of the Grammy-winning suite MIHO with The Paul Winter Consort: Eugene Friesen, Paul Sullivan, Eliot Wadopian, Jamey Haddad, Tim Brumfield and the thundering Cathedral Pipe Organ. WNYC's John Schaefer hosts.
8pm-10pm - The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of Winter Solstice 2022
A 2-hour musical celebration of the winter holidays -- Christmas, the Solstice, Chanukah, Jonkonnu, New Year’s and Twelfth Night/Epiphany -- featuring traditional carols, anthems, wassails, hymns, children’s game-songs, and folk dance-tunes excerpted from live Christmas Revels stage productions presented around the country.
12/22/22 (Thursday)
6pm-7pm - A Choral Christmas with Stile Antico (CD)
Celebrate Christmas with the sound of soaring voices. Stile Antico, the award-winning choir from London, pays a visit to St. Paul's Church on Harvard Square for a concert of radiant sacred music for the Christmas season by the most acclaimed composers of the renaissance. Hear the group's luminous blend of voices sing the intricately woven music of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd. Hosted by Cathy Fuller of WGBH.
12/23/22 (Friday)
6pm-7pm - A Mexican Christmas with the Newberry Consort and Ensemble
The Newberry Consort and EnsAmble Ad-Hoc present A Mexican Christmas, an album of 17th century traditional music for worship and celebration. The collection features pieces commonly heard in both liturgical service and in the streets, and evoke the solemnity and fanfare heard in Mexico City’s convents and plazas, with jubilant vocals and lively strings, guitars, and percussion. Organ, harp, bassoon, and a variety of Mexican traditional instruments bring this exuberant and diverse music to life.
7pm-8pm - Mexican Baroque Christmas with the Rose Ensemble -
This holiday program features over two centuries of festive Christmas dances and songs from the great cathedrals of Puebla and Mexico City.
8pm-9pm - Winter Holidays around the world with Bill McLaughlin
Winter holidays are celebrated around the world, and their music is wonderful to hear, regardless of which tradition you observe. Bill’s spirited selection starts in the 12th century with Nova Stella, medieval Italian Christmas music from Saint Francis of Assisi’s staging of the nativity; jazz pianist Dave Brubeck’s classical composition La Fiesta de la Posada, evoking a Mexican Christmas celebration; and Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols. We will enjoy this time of year in Paris with music from Debussy, and then travel to Polynesia for a traditional hymn, Anau Oia Ea. And then ending with an excerpt from Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors from the original television production. Turn on your radio, pour a cup of tea, cozy up to a warm fire, and enjoy the music!
12/24/22 (Saturday)
12pm-2pm - The Metropolitan Opera presents Mozart’s The Magic Flute
4pm-5pm - A Chanticleer Christmas
This one-hour program of holiday favorites, new and old, will be presented live in concert by Chanticleer, the superb 12-man ensemble known as "an orchestra of voices." Chanticleer is one of the premiere vocal ensembles in the nation. The ensemble has won two Grammys and is a member of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.
5pm-6pm - The Ballad of the Brown King
Dr. Louise Toppin, a preeminent performer and scholar specializing in the concert repertoire of African American composers, presents the world premiere recording of Margaret Bonds' The Ballad of the Brown King (Avie Records, 2018). With a libretto by Langston Hughes, this Christmas cantata focuses on Balthazar, the dark-skinned king who journeyed to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ. This gorgeous work is beautifully interpreted by New York City-based The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra, soloists soprano Laquita Mitchell, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford and tenor Noah Stewart, with Malcolm J. Merriweather at the podium.
6pm-7pm - St. Olaf Christmas Festival
The St. Olaf Christmas Festival is a chance for listeners across the country and around the world to participate in one of the nation’s most treasured holiday celebrations. Programming includes sacred choral and instrumental music from many traditions: beloved hymns, classical masterworks, folk songs from around the world, and African-American spirituals.
7pm-8pm - O Magnum Mysterium: The Brass and Choral Holiday Concert
The WFMT Radio Network and Music of the Baroque wants to wish you and yours a joyous holiday season as we offer the concert O Magnum Mysterium for your listening pleasure. This concert, recorded in 2021, features the debut of Music of the Baroque’s new Chorus Director Andrew Megill. Hosted by celebrated WFMT host Candice Agree, tune in to the great works of composers like Tomás Luis de Victoria, Giovanni Gabrieli, Roland de Lassus, Hans Leo Hassler, Diego José de Salazar, and many more.
8pm-9pm - A Handel and Haydn Society Christmas
Celebrate the season with this hour-long special featuring Christmas choral music from America’s oldest continuously performing ensemble, Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society. Founded in 1815, the Society is celebrating their bicentennial season, including their 400th performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” Join Host Cale Wiggins for this program featuring music from the 15th century to the late 20th ; a Christmas for all times.
12/25/22 (Sunday)
12am-12pm - 24 Hours of Classical Christmas Music on WWNO